Beer-cooler.



W. J. & H. A. BOOKBR.

BEER COOLER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. l. 1912.

' Patented June 16, 1914.

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, UNITED. srATEs PATENT OFFICE.

'WILLIAM J. BOCKEB AND HERMENIA A.. IBOCKER, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

BEER-COOLER.

To -azZZ 'whom it may concern.' Be it known that we, WILLIAM J. BOCKER and HERMENIAA. Boonen, citizens of the United States, residing at Bufalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Beer-Coolers, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements Vin beer coolers, and more particularly to that type of'cooler used in connection with dispensing apparatus.

In beer coolers now in use, the beer is caused to run through a coil or coils of pipe with which ice is in direct contact for cooling the beer while it is passing through the coil or coils, but coolers of this kind are objectionable for the reason that they cannot be readily cleaned without resorting to the use of steam forcibly passed throughthe coil orcoils thereof and also for the reason that the beer cannot be maintained at an even temperature'.

4It is the object of our invention to overcome the above mentioned objections, and to do so in a simple, eiicacious and inexpensive manner. y

To this end the invention consists in the provision of acooling chamber for the re! caption of a keg or kegs of'beer which extends up into the dispensing bar and which is equipped with an ice receptacle which is,

adapted to contain ice and maintain the temperature evenly at every point within said cooling chamber and in irecting the dispensing pipe or pipes from the beer keg or kegs directly to the dispensing faucet or faucets Without leading them out of said cooling chamber.

Our inventlon further consists in so arranging the dispensing pipe or pipes that they are easily accessible and readily cleaned internally by .passing a brush or any other suitable tool through the same, said pipe or pipes being in a straight line to permit of such action.

The invention still further consists in the novel features of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the sulgoined claim.

In the drawings, igure 1 is a vertical section through our improved cooler. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal section taken on line specificati@ of Letters'ratent.

Application led November 1,1912. Serial No. 729,018.

- The counter Patented Juflle 16, 19111.

' 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectionalperspective viewof one corner of the counter drain pan.

Referring nowfto the drawings in detail, like numerals of reference refer to like parts in the several gures.

The reference numeral 4 designates a lfloor of a building, usually the floor separating a store from a cellar beneath. In this floor an opening 5 is formed into which our improved cooler 6, is fitted so that a portion thereof extends above the iioor and a portion beneath.

7 desi ates a counter over which beer is to be dlspensed and the portion 8 of the cooler which extends above the floor 4 may be said to form part of the counter since the top of the counter serves as the to of the cooler. This, however, may be ot erwise arranged, and when this upwardly extending portion is entirely disconnected from the counter, it may still be considered the counter portion of the cooler, since it extends into the counter and from it the beer is dispensed. The portion 9 beneath'the oor is the keg-receiving chamber which may be of any desired capacity within certain limits, as will appear hereinafter.

The counter portion 8 of co'oler'pi'eferably rests upon the Hoor while the lreg-rece1ving chamber 9 depends from the Hoor, both havortion, as well asthe keg-receiving cham er, has non-heat conducting walls and the keg-receiving chamber has a door opening 10 closed by a door 11, a step 12 or other convenient means of access to said chamber being provided so that a keg or kegs of beer :13 may be laced therein.

The counter portion 8 as an opening 14 in its top wall which is closed .with a removable drip pan 15 over which isplaced a perforated plate 16 upon which glasses filled with beer may be placed to allow the overflow to drain into the drip pan through the perforations ofA said plate. The bottom of said drip pan is inclined to one corner where it is provlded 'with a spout 17 which drains into a funnel 18 at the upper end of a drain pipe 19, said ipe extending down through the cooler an discharging in a sewer (not shown) or otherwise, said pipe being shown broken away directly beneath the cooler.

ing-pi es 21, which extend downwardly into t e keg receiving chamber where they have connection with flexible pipes or tubes 22, connection being effected by means of couplings 23. In the drawing only one dispensing'faucet is shown, others belng in rear thereof and .hidden thereby, but provision is made for -a plurality of dispensing pipes so vthat beer may be drawn from different lkegs, as may be desired. In thecooler shown, provision is made -for four dispensing pipes, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, but any other -number may be employed.

The flexible pipes or tubes 22, which in a broad sense form part of the dispensing pipes', have connection with the usual keg taps 24, andthe upper ends of said dispensing pipes are closed by means of removable caps 25 or other suitable closures, which are readily ,accessible by removing the drip-pan 15 with its perforated plate 16 \from the opening 14 in the top, and when' the caps25 are removed from the dispensing pipes, `a brush of suitable size or any other suitable tool may be inserted in the pipes to cleanse thesame. Forthis purpose the couplings 23 may be uncoupled and the brush or other tool forced entirely through the pipes. Such; action will cause theslimy substance adher-4 ing to the inner surfaces of the pipes to'bef quickly removed and bv pouring hot watert through the pipes the y will be cleansed so that pure and clear beer may be drawn from the faucets.

If desired, the flexible pipes vor tubes 22= may be uncoupled from the taps, at 26, and

these tubes cleansed at the time the vertical pipes 21 are cleansed, but in that event, the pipes or tubes 22 remain coupled to said vertical pipes. In this manner, the dispensing pipes may easily be kept in a perfectly sanitary condition, and all acids and other poisonous cleaning substances dispensed with.

f Wit-hin the counter portion 8 of the cooler is an ice chamber or receptacle 27 which is separated from the walls of said counter portion by intervening spaces 28, said ice chamber being secured at the top by means of brackets 29 or otherwise and being supported at the bottom by strap-irons 30 which span the opening at the bottom of said counter portion. The bottom of said ice ,chamber has a pet-cock 31 secured thereto so that the, water of the ice may be drained when desired. It is apparent that the ice chamber may be otherwise supported or secured at the bottom than herein shown and described and that it may be otherwise drained. This ice chamber is closed at the top with a lid 32, access to which may be had through the top of the counter portion 8 by removing the drip-pan 15.

The open lower end of the. counter portion 8 joins the open upper end of the keg-receiving chamber 9 at or within the opening in the-floor 4 so that the two form a cooling chamber, although the space within the vcounter portion may be considered the primary cooling chamber, and as the ice chamber 27 is situated within the primary cooling chamber and the latter opens directly into the keg receiving chamber, both chambers are maintained at the same temperature. Attention is also invited tothe fact that the dispensin pipes 21 are out of contact with the ice ciamber and pass through space maintained at the same temperature as the beer kegs, so that the beer, when drawn from the dispensing faucets in large or small quantities or at long or short intervals, is always of the same temperature.

By constructing the cooler as shown the warm air, when firstusing the cooler, rises in contact with the ice chamber and when cooled descends; thus causing a circulation of air within the cooling chamber and assuring even temperature throughout, and as the beer within the kegs passes through pipes maintained at the same temperature as the kegs until actually reaching the faucet, assurance is had that the beer will be dispensed at the desired temperature so long as the ice chamber is filled o r approximately filled with ice.

By placing the dispensin pipes wholly outside of the ice chamber, t ey are not interfered with when filling said chamber with ice, and larger pieces of ice may be placed within the ice chamber as no packing is required around the dispensing pipes, as is now necessary. This results also in considerable savin m ice, since 1t does not melt `so readily w en in large pieces.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is A beer cooler comprising a cooling chamber 'extending through an opening in a floor, the lower portion of said cooling chamber being enlarged and provided with a door underneath the floor, heat insulating walls forming said cooling chamber, the enlarged portion of said cooling chamber being supported beneath the floor, a dispensing faucet secured in the reduced portion near its upper end, an ice receptacle secured in the reduced portion of the cooling chamber and extendingnearly the entire length thereof, a pipe connected to the faucet and extending straight downwardly into the enlarged por` tion, and exible tubes :connected to the lower endof the pipe and havin connections at their lower ends, whereby t e faucet ceptacle occupying but a portion of the space signatures in the presence of two subscrib- Withn the upper reduced portion of the cooling Witnesses. ing chamber and seid ice receptacle being WILLIAM J. BOCKER. provided with a cover at its upper end in HERMENIA A. BOCKER. 5 line with a removable cover connected to the Witnesses: p

cooling chamber. EMIL NEUHART,

In testimony whereof, `We have axed our JACOB OBERST, Jr. 

